There might be a topic pertaining to this discussion but after searching I could not find one. I am after other people's opinions and advice on this matter.

My beautiful girlfriend offered me a $20 Steam game as part of my birthday present. Due to my love of synchronicity and bargain hunting, I chose to pre-order Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny for $15.99 as it was released on my birthday over Shadowrun Returns(the game I really wanted) as I figured I could pick up the latter on special some time.

With that said, I had read in the days before release(after I had pre-ordered) that the German disc version was an atrocious POS. I figured that there was no way Steam would have a game release in such a state - basically a game that was an alpha version. It seems that my conjecture was wrong. The game is an atrocious unplayable buggy POS. It isn't a game. It doesn't work!

I am about to ask Steam for a refund, which according to their "rules" is unacceptable once a game has passed the pre-order stage. Under Australian law(and European to my knowledge) this is unlawful. I am wondering if anyone has asked for and gotten a refund since release? I am wondering what other people's experiences have been like attempting to play this game? I'm sure that in a few months, years or maybe decades, there will be something resembling a game but to me that is not what I paid for. Unfortunately I purchased this using my Steam wallet rather than credit card, so I cannot get the charge reversed (a process, which in this country can take up to SIX months!)

Steam have me by the short anf curleys, and by that I mean that I have close to 500 games on my account and don't want some stupid ban for saying "hey you guys are a bunch of f*#^&ing c$&#s for not refunding me and making the consumer happy.

So what have you experiences been with this "game"? Has anyone gotten a refund since release? Does anyone have a spare handkerchief or shoulder to cry on? lol My friends have been loving Shadowrun and I certainly WONT EVER per-order a game again!

There's a lengthy discussion in this thread:

http://www.gog.com/forum/general/realms_of_arkania_blade_of_destiny_hd_out_this_month

I have contacted the developer and they told me that a patch will be released today and it should make the game playable (as in final state).

I find that difficult to believe given there have been 9 patches so far, some of which make the game less playable than previous patches.

I'm sorry but what kind of product besides a computer game could be released in this sorry state and have customers trying to excuse the manufacturer? Thank you for the link, I'll take a read once I have slept :)

Honestly I can't understand how people accept and excuse this sort of bullshit. Maybe I'm idealistic thinking that I should get a working game that is beyond alpha stage when I pay a decent amount for it, and not accept excuses like "oh but it is a small dev team" or "the English version will be patched and working in good time" or "there's no manual but there will be one soon" but I liken this to ordering a cup of coffee without a cup. I understand that games take love, time and effort. I understand that bugs can be common across various platforms. I don't understand how this game can be released in the state it is in, and how Steam has been refusing refunds.

I won't bar Steam, I have too much invested in it but seriously fuck apologists and fanboys for a seriously poorly coded piece of shit game that isn't playable! The only way I can make this better for myself is to:

a/ NEVER pre-order anything again, and
b/ never give a cent to this bullshit company for ANYTHING they make

Yes you can tell I'm pissed for choosing the wrong game on my birthday :( (yes venting makes me feel better unless Steam resolves this issue, which from other posts I can tell will not happen)

It does look terrible, but is there actually any guarantee on Steam's side of the deal? I mean, if I bought Morrowind from HMV in the UK, would it actually be HMV's fault for stocking an unbelievably glitchy game that took years of patching to become properly playable, and that can be completed in 7 minutes or so? I agree that it's weird that there's a culture in the game industry that it's okay to release a substandard product, but once it has been released by the publisher, the particular retailers aren't really to blame. I mean, should retailers stock games that get less than, say, 50% on Metacritic?

Fallout 2 is seen as a classic, but it took several patches for such lines as "Villagers will no longer suddenly attack the player for no reason" and "leaving items in the trunk of your car will no longer delete them" to appear in patch notes. When I bought that, and had all that kind of stuff happen to me, I was very annoyed and it really lowered my opinion of PC developers (these sorts of bugs have nothing to do with the variety of hardware in the PC market, it's just shitty programming), but I didn't think that Blockbuster should refund my money.

Incidentally, lots of people on the Steam forums are also complaining abot Shadowrun Returns, saying the patches are making the game less stable, and just generally complaining about the game. Personally, I enjoyed it and haven't had any of these glitches - and I guess that's why this culture exists in PC gaming, it might work for some people so there's this idea that you just need to troubleshoot because it could technically work on your PC eventually.

I just want to state for the record, that I finished Fallout 1 and 2 unpatched "out of the box". Which I still consider one of my biggest achievements in patience. I had to ditch complete areas in F2, but I finished it! And I had to start over in F1 due to the Glow radiation bug. (Not that I ever want to do that again, but it is a testament for the quality of those games. I remember playing the F1 demo dozens of times....).

I did fold on Daggerfall unpatched (once to often I fell through the dungeon) and Arcanum unpatched (I think there actually was a game braking bug in the original release near the end, but I think everybody waited for the patch anyway).

Not to mention that those were the days were you had to wait month for a patch (and you had to buy it with a gaming mag). And they never really fixed the original Schick release in Germany, they pretty much forced you to buy the CD version.

OH GOD, THE BUGS IN FALLOUT/ARCANUM. Still though, those games were brilliant enough that I kept playing them as well, in their vanilla format.

I think for todays gamers it is simply impossible to understand the revelation that Fallout was. It was as if the heaven opened up and mana fell from the skies. God, how I loved this game. It was a Christmas present and I think I didn't leave the house until new years, playing only fallout.

I've seen a couple folks over on the Steam forums claim to have gotten refunds. I think the key is to thoroughly explain the technical problems, drop links to threads outlining issues, and generally to be both polite and persistent.

From what I read, your local refund law doesn't apply to Steam as it is an out of country purchase, Steam has no local offices in Australia. (from a quick google I did before when someone else mentioned it)

It was a birthday present for me. I got it in January and didn't budge from my room for much until I finished it.

You post as if you are a pioneer on gaming through buggy shithouse games. WELL DONE +1 MEDALS 2 U! Seriously dude, you act as if no others have been through the history of gaming and seem like you want a medal or a chest to pin it on. Like I said in response to you in the other thread, I have been playing games since the 80s. I have played MANY games and thoroughly enjoyed a lot of classics, both Fallouts(out of the box) included. In 2013, this is NOT an excuse to release a game that DOES NOT WORK! You might want to chuck shitloads of money towards developers that have no fucking clue what they are doing, but others do not. Why would you want to support the release of a game that is in an alpha state, just because you have a hard on for the series? Why would you not rather support remakes that actually WORK?
The refunds I have read about were for pre-orders. I will post if I manage to get one post release.
I purchased my Steam Wallet credit through EB Games. It is a purchase within Australia. Local laws apply. They cannot be enforced (like almost all international trades) but they are legally binding.

Alright, show me the RoA release that works.

There doesn't have to be, just like Steam posting "no refunds" is not legally binding in many countries it trades in. The guarantee is based on the relevant local consumer trade laws. Now this doesn't mean much in terms of enforceability unless pressure comes from the appropriate body due to multiple complaints(such as the ACCC in Australia).
If you wish to continue to pay money for games/items/goods/services that do not work as advertised, then I wish you exactly what you are asking for :) Thank you again SimonG for demonstrating how much logic eludes you. I like to get what I pay for, and in this case it is a lesson that I shall learn from. I am posting in order to warn others to stay away from purchasing a game that is in an alpha state but not advertised as an alpha game. It is wonderful that you are happy with your purchase, and that you are happy to wait months for something that might be considered a working game. I am not :)